NABA: Forty Years of Growth

Advocacy efforts opened doors for African-American CPAs.

From
seeds sown 40 years ago this month in a gathering of accountants in
the living room of CPA Frank Ross, the National Association of Black
Accountants (NABA) has grown to more than 50 professional and 150
student chapters nationwide. To succeed, it has had to reach
consensus on its goals and identity internally and within the larger
accounting profession.

THE INITIAL YEARS

One
precursor to that initial meeting of what would become NABA was the
effort by one of the nation’s relatively few practicing black CPAs,
Bert N. Mitchell, to quantify and call attention to the dearth of
African-American accountants and CPAs, particularly within
white-owned firms. He revealed his findings in a 1969 Journal of
Accountancy article (“The Black Minority in the CPA
Profession,” Oct. 69, page 41). Mitchell surveyed 104 firms and the
136 African-American CPAs he was able to identify. Representatives
at the 52 firms that replied said that out of the 27,481
professionals those firms employed, only 404 were from minority
groups, including 108 blacks. Black representation at the partner
level in these firms was “virtually nonexistent.”

Mitchell
said many firms recognized the need for more inclusive hiring and
were taking remedial steps, but a greater commitment was needed to
make training and employment opportunities available to minorities.
He noted favorably steps by the AICPA’s new biracial Committee on
Recruitment from Minority Groups, later renamed the Minority
Initiatives Committee (see sidebar, “Minority Initiatives Committee
Celebrates Four Decades,” at bottom of page). Mitchell advocated a
greater role in the profession for black CPAs, but he did not
specifically suggest a new national association. In fact, he said
that black respondents rejected the idea of a “separate national
professional association of black CPAs” by a margin of 57 to 25.

FORMULATORS OF THE VISION

Mindful
of that desire by African-American CPAs to open the profession to
minorities while working with and within established professional
organizations, about 16 New York-area accountants met on a Sunday in
early December 1969 at Ross’ home in the Bronx. The precipitating
event was the filing of a civil rights lawsuit by the city of New
York against the six of what were then the Big Eight accounting
firms that had headquarters there, Ross recounts in his 2006 memoir
Quiet Guys Can Do Great Things, Too. The accountants’
purpose at that first meeting, however, was open-ended: “to discuss
the unique challenges and limited opportunities they faced in the
accounting profession.” The group soon coalesced into nine founding
members. Besides Ross, they were Ronald Benjamin, Kenneth Drummond,
Earl Bigget, Bert Gibson, George Wallace, Donald Bristow, Richard
McNamee and Michael Winston. Benjamin, Ross and Winston were the
only CPAs in the group.

Five
of them, including Ross, had been hired by one of the New York Big
Eight firms, Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. Despite such signs of
progress, however, there was little to cheer about for African
Americans, generally or as CPAs. The nation was in crisis. The
Vietnam War was still raging. Earlier in the decade, President John
F. Kennedy had been assassinated, and his brother Robert F. Kennedy
and Martin Luther King Jr., had both been shot and killed the
previous year. The civil rights movement had produced the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but the
struggle to implement those initiatives continued.

NABA’s
founders were well aware that many of the organization’s prospective
members were skeptical. “Many young blacks were afraid to step out
and take a chance that they might be called a radical if they got
involved with an organization such as NABA. They felt they could
lose their jobs,” Ross wrote in a recent e-mail to the authors of
this article. The founders knew, too, that just by including “black”
in the name, the organization might be associated by some with
radical organizations such as the Black Panthers—such was the
sensitivity to militancy. Some African-American accountants in
private practice “had not worked for a major firm and could not
fully understand why we were not happy with the opportunity we had,”
Ross wrote. Acceptance by established professional organizations and
firms came with time, but at least NABA’s organizers were able early
on to reassure them that they harbored no radical agenda. A healthy
dialogue was launched with the AICPA, the New York State Society of
CPAs and Big Eight firms in a forum at New York’s Biltmore Hotel.
The founders also set forth at the meeting their goals for the
organization, stressing education, entry to the profession,
professional development and fellowship.

Despite
near-universal agreement with NABA’s aims, “established black
accountants were some of [the] harshest and most vocal critics” of
its strategy, Ross wrote in his book. NABA’s organizers “did not get
into a debate as to who was right and who was wrong,” Ross added in
the e-mail. But they did “stay the course on why we felt it was
important to have NABA.” One reason, which Mitchell’s study had not
directly addressed, was the difficulty black accountants faced once
they were hired by a major firm to advance in their careers there.
Reasons then—and since—Ross says in Quiet Guys, include a
lack of support from supervisors and difficulty making social
adjustments. Thus NABA was able to point to a need for a network
that could mentor not just accounting students but young accountants.

NABA
was incorporated in New York in 1970, with Ross as its first
president. It immediately established the first professional chapter
in New York City. Between 1969 and the following year, signs began
to emerge that the attention was beginning to bear fruit. An AICPA
survey found 700 black accountants working in the 60 largest firms
in 1970, up from 197 just a year earlier.

In
1971, the first student chapter, at North Carolina A&T State
University, was admitted. Also that year, NABA adopted its logo of
clasped hands. It was conceived by two-time national president
William Aiken. In 1993, NABA adopted the motto “Lifting As We
Climb.” Besides offering fellowship and mentoring, NABA also
researched what Ross and others saw as the continuing problem of
retention of black accountants in major firms.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

In
1986, NABA organized the Division of Firms, which provides member
firms with a forum to network with other minority firms and share
opportunities for education and professional development. Currently,
there are 65 member firms. In 1989, NABA created the Center for
Advancement of Minority Accountants (CAMA) “to attract and advance
talented minorities into and throughout accountancy-related careers
in business and academia.” It does so partly through the Accounting
Career Awareness Program (ACAP) outreach to high school students. In
2007, NABA launched CPA Bound, an advocacy initiative to increase
the number of black CPAs. Membership in these groups has provided
leadership experience, teamwork, networking and voluntary community
service, as well as financial assistance through scholarships.

NABA TODAY

In a
2008 interview with the authors, Ross applauded what he said had
been a serious commitment by major accounting firms to hire more
minority accounting professionals. Likewise, George Willie, a CPA
active in NABA as well as AICPA committees, said in testimony in
2007 before the U.S. Department of the Treasury Advisory Committee
on the Audit Profession that “the competition to recruit and retain
top talent is fierce in the professional labor markets, including
accounting, with many firms seeking to enhance staff diversity in
order to meet both staffing needs and client expectations.” Yet,
leaders also point out, underrepresentation of African Americans in
the CPA profession remains a challenge. Despite a significant
increase in the number of minorities studying accounting, African
Americans are only 3% of all CPAs and 1% of partner-owners,
according to Willie’s testimony. Many observers agree that for
African Americans, the “problem is retention, not entry into the
profession,” Linda Gaston, then the executive director of NABA, said
more than 21 years ago in a JofA article, “Blacks in the
Profession” (Feb. 88, page 38).

Another
challenge is making the transition from accounting student to CPA. A
CPA Examination Summit sponsored by the Howard University School of
Business Center for Accounting Education, which Ross directs, and
NABA identified the following circumstances as contributing to a
reluctance by recent African-American graduates to sit for the CPA
exam (see also “Expanding
the Ranks of African-American CPAs,” JofA, Feb. 08,
page 48):

Generational
challenges.

Dearth
of African-American CPA role models.

Lack
of motivation or the need to become a CPA.

Exam
mechanics.

Preparation
at the college/university level.

Lack
of valuing the CPA credential.

Lack
of reliable data about the problem.

Ross
has continued to be an unwavering supporter of NABA and minority
accountants. In 2008, and again in 2009, he was selected as one of
the “Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting” by Accounting
Today magazine.

In
addition to being a vehicle of social change within the accounting
community, NABA has succeeded in becoming a networking forum for
African-American professionals and businesses, through its annual
conventions, the Division of Firms and professional and student
chapters throughout the country.

NABA
is now led by its 23rd president and CEO, Walter J. Smith, vice
president of financial reporting at Prudential Financial in Newark,
N.J. His theme is “40 Years, One NABA.” Last year, NABA hired its
current executive director, Gregory Johnson, who previously worked
16 years with the AICPA, including as director of exam strategy for
the Uniform CPA Examination.

The
accessibility of the profession to African Americans attests to the
cultural transformation that took place within the accounting
community since the inception of NABA. According to NABA, today the
organization represents more than 100,000 African-American and other
minority professionals in the fields of accounting, finance,
business consulting, tax and information technology.

Photo courtesy of Frank Ross. Six
of NABA’s founders, plus a president, in 1999. Standing, from
left: Frank Ross, Bert Gibson, Earl Bigget and Michael Winston.
Seated, from left: Donald Bristow, Daniel Moore and Ronald
Benjamin. Moore, while not one of the founding members, was
president of NABA from 1997 to 2000.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Forty
years ago, when the National Association of Black Accountants formed,
there were relatively few African- American CPAs, particularly
within white-owned public accounting firms.

Starting
with a meeting in December 1969 at the New York home
of CPA Frank Ross, the group that would soon be incorporated as NABA
faced an uphill climb. Although it was nearly universally
acknowledged that black Americans should have greater opportunities
to enter the CPA profession, agreement on the best strategy to
accomplish that goal was elusive. Even among black accountants,
there was not a clear consensus in favor of a national organization
such as NABA.

An
early goal was better preparation of accounting students; through
such programs as CPA Bound and the Center for Advancement of
Minority Accountants, NABA helped open the pipeline for young
professionals. Through its Division of Firms, it also has sought to
provide networking opportunities for black-owned firms.

Today,
in conjunction with other groups such
as theAICPA’s Minorities Initiatives Committee, NABA
continues to cultivate young CPAs as well as to work on related
issues, such as retention of African Americans and other minorities
within the profession.

Dale
L. Flesher (acdlf@olemiss.edu) is an
associate dean and professor at the Patterson School of
Accountancy of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss.
Helen G. Gabre (helen.gabre@aamu.edu) is an
assistant professor of accounting at Alabama A&M University.

To
comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article,
contact Paul Bonner, senior editor, at pbonner@aicpa.org or 919-402-4434.

A
White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public
Accountants Since 1921,
by Theresa A. Hammond, University of North Carolina Press,
Chapel Hill, 2002.

Minority Initiatives Committee Celebrates Four Decades

At
the same time the National Association of Black Accountants was
being formed, the AICPA launched an effort to encourage more
minority students to enter the CPA profession. The Minority
Initiatives Committee (MIC) is celebrating its 40th anniversary with
new promotional materials and recognition by accounting educators
for its role. An e-book, “CPAs of Color: Celebrating 40 Years,”
commemorates the MIC’s founding, progress and continued dedication
(tinyurl.com/yj7l82e). It
highlights 41 minority CPAs with short profiles and quotes. In fact,
presenting to students the significant and varied career paths for
CPAs is a big part of what the MIC does.

Swelling
the pipeline of promising minority accounting graduates was a
central aim in the MIC’s initial work. It was formed as the Minority
Recruitment and Equal Opportunity Committee, also known as the
Committee on Recruitment from Minority Groups. The AICPA’s Council
had declined to vote on a proposed antidiscrimination resolution in
1965 but four years later passed a resolution calling for “special
efforts” to educate and hire “from disadvantaged groups” more
students “of high potential”—this last phrase added after a
contentious floor debate. The resolution also called upon
individuals and firms to “integrate the accounting profession in
fact as well as ideal.” The resolution also charged the committee
with the duty to “continue to advance these objectives until they
are achieved.”

Soon
after its founding, the committee established its Scholarships for
Minority Accounting Students program. Since then, the program has
awarded more than $14 million in scholarships to more than 10,000 students.

The
committee recognized that equally important as scholarship
assistance is providing students with mentors and other contact with
CPAs. Accordingly, the MIC’s Accounting Scholars Leadership Workshop
has since 1995 held free annual workshops for top undergraduate and
graduate accounting students from across the nation. The workshop is
designed to inculcate communication and presentation skills and give
participants an opportunity to learn from and be inspired by role
models within the profession. More than 1,200 students have attended
the two-day workshops, in which they also engage in case study
competitions and other team-building exercises. Accounting
professionals from government, business and industry, public
practice and academia show them that accountancy tasks are as
diverse as the professionals who perform them, said Ostine Swan,
AICPA senior manager for diversity and staff liaison to the MIC.

“In a
lot of cases, they become aware of CPAs’ varied career paths,” Swan said.

Another
important effort is the MIC’s work in conjunction with other groups,
colleges and universities and the KPMG PhD Project. The AICPA’s
Fellowship for Minority Doctoral Students is a component of the
effort to attract students toward advanced degrees in accounting, to
help ensure the ranks of accounting educators are filled from a
representative pool of well-qualified candidates. The fellowship
provides $12,000 per year for up to five years and so far has
assisted 111 doctoral candidates.

In
recognition of the MIC’s longstanding commitment, the American
Accounting Association awarded it the 2009 Diversity Section Award
for Excellence.

Collaboration
between NABA and the MIC has created synergy, said Genevia Gee
Fulbright, who chairs the MIC and has chaired NABA committees.

“NABA’s
strategic partnership with the AICPA Minority Initiatives Committee
has contributed to the increased number of minorities in significant
roles within the AICPA, including those serving on the AICPA boards,
foundations and committees,” Fulbright said. “Many leaders have been
active NABA members who benefited from mentorships and coaching.”

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